Gun nuttery
United States
This Washington Post story is far too optimistic about the prospects for a gun control movement[1] against the rise of white Christian nationalism (Trumpism).[2] It simply will not matter what a majority of people think on gun control because we won’t even have the representation we had under a constitutional oligarchy.
Ashley Parker, Tyler Pager, and Colby Itkowitz, “From Sandy Hook to Buffalo: Ten years of failure on gun control,” Washington Post, May 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/22/guns-biden-democrats-buffalo/
Student loans
Alyssa Fowers and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel, “Who has student loan debt in America?” Washington Post, May 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/22/student-loan-borrowers/
John Fetterman
Julian Routh, “For Pa. GOP, no turning back in bid vs. Josh Shapiro as party leaders back Doug Mastriano for governor,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 22, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/05/22/mastriano-gop-nomination-republican-party-united/stories/202205220148
Gig economy (neoliberal wet dream)
Bezzle
I file these stories about a downturn for technology start-up company stocks[3] with those and Uber and profitability because this is how Uber categorizes itself and because neither Uber nor Lyft have any apparent path to profitability. These companies are being forced to dip into their cash reserves and my question about how long they’ll be willing to do that remains.[4]
“This is clearly not a speed bump,” said Mike Volpi, a venture capitalist with Index Ventures. “This is a proper correction. The end of a cycle.”
In March, startup CEO Doug Ludlow cautioned his fellow founders on Twitter: “If you haven’t already started on a path to break-even, start immediately. In 2022, VC’s are going to pull back massively.”[5]
Heather Somerville only mentions Uber in passing,[6] but the company’s chief executive officer has reacted to the change in the investing climate,[7] and Lyft’s share prices have tumbled already.[8]
I wish I didn’t care and I don’t, really, when if comes to most of the affected companies. But if Uber and Lyft shut down, I’m going to be wondering how I’ll get by since I am unable to overcome the systemic discrimination I face in the job market.[9]
Heather Somerville, “For Tech Startups, the Party Is Over,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-tech-startups-the-party-is-over-11652710330
- [1]Ashley Parker, Tyler Pager, and Colby Itkowitz, “From Sandy Hook to Buffalo: Ten years of failure on gun control,” Washington Post, May 22, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/22/guns-biden-democrats-buffalo/↩
- [2]David Benfell, “My 2024 forecast,” Not Housebroken, May 19, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/03/10/my-2024-forecast/↩
- [3]Max Chafkin, “Tech Companies Coddled Their Employees. Now They’re Firing Them,” Bloomberg, May 13, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-05-13/tech-companies-coddled-their-employees-now-they-re-firing-them; Megumi Fujikawa and Eliot Brown, “SoftBank Lost $13.2 Billion on Tech Investments Amid Selloff,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/softbank-reports-13-billion-annual-loss-hit-by-tech-share-slump-11652339726; Dan Primack, “Many unicorn startups could become zombies,” Axios, March 17, 2022, https://www.axios.com/2022/03/17/unicorn-startups-zombie-companies; David Rosenberg, “The Bear Market Is Already In Its Third Inning. Stay Calm and Defensive,” Barron’s, May 13, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-bear-market-is-already-in-its-third-inning-stay-calm-and-defensive-51652454842; Heather Somerville, “For Tech Startups, the Party Is Over,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-tech-startups-the-party-is-over-11652710330; Jacky Wong, “SoftBank’s Tech Boom Goes Bust—Again,” Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/softbanks-tech-boom-goes-bustagain-11652357244↩
- [4]David Benfell, “This is not a business plan,” Not Housebroken, May 13, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/06/20/this-is-not-a-business-plan/↩
- [5]Heather Somerville, “For Tech Startups, the Party Is Over,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-tech-startups-the-party-is-over-11652710330↩
- [6]Heather Somerville, “For Tech Startups, the Party Is Over,” Wall Street Journal, May 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-tech-startups-the-party-is-over-11652710330↩
- [7]Reuters, “Uber to cut costs, slow down hiring, CEO tells staff,” May 9, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/uber-cut-costs-slow-down-hiring-ceo-tells-staff-cnbc-2022-05-09/↩
- [8]Tina Bellon, “Lyft shares tank 26% on higher cost of getting drivers back on street,” Reuters, May 3, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/technology/lyft-says-customers-spending-despite-inflation-results-top-targets-2022-05-03/; Jackie Davalos, “Uber Sidesteps Lyft’s Debacle With Optimism Over Riders, Profit,” Bloomberg, May 4, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-04/uber-beats-sales-estimates-delivers-upbeat-forecast↩
- [9]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩